Oct 2 App profile: Interpreters' Help

What is it?

An elegant and easy-to-use web app to create, edit and manage glossaries and share them with colleagues. The people behind it are Benoît Werner and Yann Plancqueel - Benoît's sister, Céline Corsini, is a conference interpreter herself.

Getting your valuable words into Interpreters' Help is very easy. You can create a new glossary, or you can import one you already have (.docx/.xls/.xlsx/.ods/.csv).

When creating a new glossary, you can enter a name, a description and set it to either public or private. By default, there will be an English column, but you have complete flexibility here to not only add languages, but also columns for acronym, category, comment or definition and even free-text columns that you may want or need.

Within a glossary, you can:

star/unstar

share (more on this later)

import terms (using glossary files you already have)

copy the glossary

download the glossary as PDF or Excel file

print.

(And you will soon be able to activate a learning mode, too.)

Beyond just terminology, IH also helps you keep track of your interpreting assignments and clients in the "My business" section. Once entered into IH, assignments can be organised, connected to clients and, most importantly, glossaries. It's a great feature, but is obviously not intended to replace your bookkeeping software.

Tablets?

Since IH is a web app, it runs on any device that has a decent web browser. Alternatively, you can export your glossary - ideally as an Excel or CSV file - and use it in an app that can handle those.

But Benoît tells me that an iPad app is in the works and will probably be released by the end of the year.

Boothmate

Boothmate is the companion app for Mac computers. Just download it and log in with your IH username and password. You can now use your terminology offline and search through it very quickly.

Windows users need not despair, because a version for their platform is imminent.

Sharing is caring

Sharing is caring, and Interpreters' Help makes it very easy. Once you have a glossary, you can share it with colleagues who are also IH members. A contributor can just view or even edit your glossary.

If you want to, you can also make your glossary completely public - then it will be available on the glossary farm, essentially a repository of glossaries.

Assignments are also shareable - colleagues on IH can be added to an assignment as team members. That way, all team members can literally be on the same page and see not only the assignment, but also the client as well as glossaries and files. The team can also have discussions about the assignment on that page.

What does it cost?

Several pricing plans are available, including a free tier, which gives you one private glossary and unlimited public glossary slots plus 100 MB of storage space for documents (does not apply to glossaries). Monthly fees range from 9,99 € to 49,99 € (10 % off if you pay annually), and a student plan is apparently in the works. Current students can contact the developers for a coupon.

All plans give you access to the BoothMate Mac app, to the glossary search, the assignments/clients feature and the IH network.

All paid plans include: glossary copy/PDF/print, glossary sharing with editing rights, export/print /copy of glossary someone shares with you and line edition and creation in glossary search.